Hussein Relents, And Loses Again

July 18, 1995

"A wonderful day" was the assessment from David Daliberti. He was not talking about the weather; he was commenting on the pleasure of being a free man after spending four months in prison in Iraq. He and a friend, William Barloon, had accidentally crossed over the border from Kuwait and found themselves under arrest, becoming pawns in an international power game.

For Daliberti and Barloon, the emergence into freedom was undoubtedly a fine moment. For Americans worried about the fate of two innocent countrymen in the hands of a brutal dictator, it was cause for relief. For Rep. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), with whom Saddam Hussein met before releasing the pair, it was a gratifying achievement.

But for a world still at odds with Saddam Hussein, it didn't look like a significant development. The Iraqi leader had held the two men only because he thought they might have some value in bargaining with the United States over the United Nations sanctions that were imposed after his unprovoked 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

As usual, he miscalculated. The two never became an urgent cause with the American people, and President Clinton apparently rebuffed Iraq's efforts to negotiate. He refused even to write Hussein asking for clemency, rather than grant him the legitimacy such contact would imply. The most he would accept was letting Richardson make his own efforts independent of the administration.

In the end, Hussein apparently saw that, once again, he was not advancing his purpose but retarding it--by reminding everyone what a crude and nasty tyrant he is. He handed the men over not because he felt a sudden humanitarian impulse but because he saw they were no longer of any use.

Of more significance is his recent admission that Iraq produced offensive biological warfare agents before the invasion of Kuwait--something the regime had spent the last four years denying. In the short run, the disclosure is no help to Iraq, since it only underscores the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein's continuation in power. But in the long run, it improves his chances of getting the sanctions lifted by suggesting some capacity for cooperation.

The U.S., however, clearly has no intention of letting Iraq out from under the world economic quarantine as long as Hussein rules. That makes considerable sense, given the unlikelihood that he will ever change his ways enough that he is not a threat to the peace of the region and the world.

Americans should be glad to have our captives back-- and glad that the president declined to appease a tyrant to win their freedom.